BEIJING — Nelly Rico often told her children that in America, the land of opportunity, they could be whatever they wanted to be.

"She would always tell us when we were kids, if you want to be an astronaut you can be an astronaut, doctor you can be a doctor, president," said Henry Cejudo, the next-to-the-youngest of Rico's seven children. "She was always really encouraging us."

Cejudo wanted to be an Olympic champion.

In many ways, becoming an astronaut, doctor and even president might have been more realistic goals. Yet on Tuesday, the 21-year-old American achieved the improbable.

Nelly's baby boy — her little "Smurphy" — surprised all but himself and his family to win the gold medal in 121-pound freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games, overcoming a field that included three reigning and former world champions.

The 5-4 Cejudo, who was one-and-done at the 2007 World Championships, entered the Olympics ranked 31st.

Cejudo was behind in all three of his preliminary matches but came back to win before taking down Asia champion Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan with a dominant performance in the final.

Overcoming odds is as much an American spirit as an Olympic one.

That is what Nelly Rico has impressed upon Cejudo from the day he was born at Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor-Hospital in Los Angeles, to the moment he took the medal stand half a world away.

Having to raise her children on her own after divorcing Cejudo's father, who was in and out of prison and on and off drugs, Rico didn't let the odds keep her from taking care of her family.

Usually, a permanent home address was not part of the lifestyle. Whether in South Central Los Angeles, Las Cruces, N.M., or Phoenix, no matter how many odd low-paying jobs Rico could fit into a 24-hour schedule, the family budget always showed more debits than credits.

So they moved a lot.

"Probably about 50 times," estimates Cejudo, who talked to his now-deceased father just once after the age of 4.

Often food was scarce, but that didn't keep Rico — only 14 when she came illegally to the United States from Mexico, but now a legal resident and studying for the citizenship exam — from being a friend to many and a mother to more.

"We didn't have much food, but if somebody in the neighborhood came to her needing something, she would give them food stamps, cook for them, anything to help them get fed, too," her son Alonzo said.

Plenty to celebrate

Alonzo was part of a celebratory contingent so into Henry's matches at the Agricultural University Gymnasium that security personnel had to come over "about 20 times" to tell them the Chinese don't get that raucous at sporting events.

Oh, but Americans do.

The Cejudo Clan narrowly avoided being ejected, as there was plenty to celebrate watching Cejudo shock the world.

Cejudo got into wrestling because his brother Angel, 16 months older than him, was into the sport.

Angel, one of the noisemakers in Tuesday's crowd, made some noise as a four-time high school state champion in Arizona and was asked to move to the Olympic Training Center.

Nobody remembers who came up with the idea for his younger brother to tag along, but the then high school junior moved to Colorado Springs as well and began working on his Olympic dream.

When Cejudobecame the first high schooler to win a national championship since USA Wrestling was formed in 1983, there were still doubts he could get it done on the international stage. No U.S. wrestler had won an Olympic title in freestyle since Barcelona in 1992.

There is little skeptics can say now, except congratulations.

Nelly Rico's boy, who had to don a sauna suit, ride a bike and jump rope to drop 10 pounds on the day of the weigh-in to make weight, is a gold medalist.

"We grew up in a pretty tough environment. It's gold or bust," Cejudo said. "I believe it's the right mentality; it should be the American mentality.

"Gold. That's all there is to it. I've never trained for second place or third place. We weren't brought up like that."

Rico wasn't among the loud group of Cejudo supporters here in Beijing.

Cejudo said she stayed behind to take care of six of his nieces and nephews.

Alonzo said his mother is a bit afraid of flying and even more anxious when her sons wrestle.

She spent the better part of the day in the bathroom at her home in Colorado Springs vomiting, as Cejudofought for the gold.

"We call her the Terminator," Cejudo said. "She's been so tough. She's been a father and a mother. She's such a tough lady. Truly tough.

"She's superwoman."

And her son is the United States' super wrestler.

"The streets are paved in gold in the U.S., they really are," Cejudo said. "It's the land of opportunity."